[Callers] Public Dance, Ideas Wanted

[Gregory Frock]

Hi Jonathan,

Let me suggest this particular resource in particular for this event:

https://www.cdss.org/resources/how-to/contra-dance-resources#callers

It does not have all the dances you need, but it will give you a good
start.

>From your description of the event, one factor seems most important to me:
how many regular dancers will actually show. If there are not many regulars
and the crowd is large, you will have difficulty even teaching a chain
while still keeping things moving. OTOH, attendees will not have the
expectations of "mandatory swings" and you can make use of that by calling
some very traditional contras (ones down the hall, return and cast off for
example) which are very accessible to a mixed crowd of ages, skill levels,
and degrees of inebriation. Speaking of down the hall, make sure your venue
has practical space for that move; you may need bystanders to clear out on
the bottom to permit dancing.

Hope your event goes great!

Greg



On Tue, Sep 10, 2019 at 4:07 AM Jonathan Janzen via Callers <
callers at lists.sharedweight.net> wrote:

> I will be calling a dance at our local State Fair next month. It will be
> open to the public, and we've also invited several Contra Communities
> around the State to join us in helping to introduce people to Contra
> Dancing, and other forms of Folk Dance. I suspect that most people of the
> general public will stay and watch/join maybe 1 or 2 dances, and then they
> will move onto the next exciting thing at the Fair.
> We will have about 3.5 hours to fill, and I want a good variety of dances
> to choose from.
> So my question to you is, what simple, fun, beginner-friendly dances would
> you recommend? Being able to "build up" to more advanced dances I don't
> think will be very possible, simply because we expect a steady stream of
> people joining and leaving at any given moment, so I need a variety of
> simple and fun dances to share that don't require much prior experience.
> I already have several ideas as to some dances to include, but I'd love to
> hear your suggestions.
> They don't have to be Contra-specific, as I'm planning to throw in a few
> circle mixers, and a couple easy English Country Dances as well.
> Maybe Hole in the Wall, or even the Virginia Reel... The genre of the
> dances isn't that important.
> Just any other fun, family dances that you can send my way. Many thanks in
> advance.
> I look forward to reading your suggestions.
>
> Excitedly,
> JJ.
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